Illustrator Saturday – Gladys Jose

Gladys Jose is an illustrator and storyteller. She graduated from the University of Central Florida in 2012, where she earned a Bachelors in Fine Arts degree, specializing in graphic design. Gladys is the illustrator of FRESH PRINCESS (HarperCollins, 2019), THE ELEPHANTS HIDE AND SEEK HANDBOOK (Sourcebooks 2020) as well as a chapter book series for EPIC! Books. She has also worked with Scholastic Book Fairs, Tangerine Press (a Scholastic imprint), SunDance Graphics and many others.

Gladys lives in sunny state of Florida, with her husband and daughter. They spend most of their days trying to recall if they had carpet or tile underneath the mountains of toys and books. Time will tell… unless it gets worse. It doesn’t get worse… does it? 

I featured Gladys on Illustrator Saturday in 2018 and noticed all the many things that have happened to her since then, so I decided to share that with you. 

SEE GLADYS’ ANIMATED PROCESS BELOW FOR THE LIBRARY FISH:

 

INTERVIEW WITH GLADYS JOSE:

Do you still live in Florida?

Yes, I’m still in Florida.

Since interviewing you in 2018, you have illustrated quite a few books. Fresh Princess came out on April 2, 2019 with HarperCollins. Was this a two book deal? I ask, since a second Fresh Princess book came out.

Yes, the Fresh Princess was a two-book deal.

At the end of March 2020 Fresh Princess: Style Rules! by Denene Millner came out. How long did HarperCollins give you to illustrate the two books? Was that all laid out in the contract?

HarperCollins did give me an ample amount of time to work on both books, I believe if I’m recalling correctly, I had maybe six months to work on each book with a few months in between the first and the second book.

At the end of February 2020 Sleeping Bronty (Once Before Time Book 2)by Christy Webster came out. It was published by Andrew McMeel Publishing. Is this a publisher who works with authors to self-publish their books? Can you fill us in about how they are to work with?

The Once Before Time books were actually for an eBook company called Epic books they are a Digital Library For Kids app. The first three books of the series were also printed as board books with Andrew McMeel publishing. I’m not familiar working with them, I had worked with Epic directly and then epic worked with them to make the board books.

In April 2020 SOURCEBOOKS JABBERWOCKY published The Elephants’ Guide to Hide-and-Seek: A Funny Picture Book of Friendship, Inclusivity, and Play by Kjersten Hayes that you illustrated. How long did they give you to do the illustrations?

Sourcebooks Jabberwocky gave me a lot of time to work on the book I think I had a little over a year.

Then you illustrated Pterapenzel by Christy Webster in May 2020. This was a second book with this author and publisher. Who discovered your work first; the publisher or the author?

The publisher was already working with my agent.

When did you get the contract with Puffin to illustrate Leonora Bolt Secret Inventor which was published by Puffin (August 1, 2021)? Did your agent Christy Ewen at the Cat Agency introduce your illustrations to them?

I got the contract for the Leonora Bolt: Secret Inventor back in the summer of 2020 and that was via  the publisher contacting my agent.

Were you able to get a breather after completing Clayton Parker Really Really Has to Pee published Abrams Books for Young Readers (August 10, 2021)?

I think I had another deadline 2 weeks after finishing Clayton Parker. Honestly, I haven’t had a breather in between ANY of my books *sigh* for the last two years. I’ve been juggling anywhere for 2-4 books at the same time, sometimes even working on multiple projects just in one day. My days have been excruciatingly long.

You started out this year with a new series being published by Aladdin. The first two came out on March 22nd Catalina Incognito and The New Friend Fix both written by Jennifer Torres. Did you work on these one at a time or did you work on them together?

I only worked on these one at a time.

 

Plus you illustrated THE LIBRARY FISH with Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman on March 22nd. Were you able to stagger the illustration deadlines with the publishers?

I tried the best I could to have the deadlines staggered, sometimes unfortunately some dates would be moved back and collide. That’s when I end up having to stack multi projects into one day.

Now you have you are illustrating three book series with HarperChapters WEDNSDAY AND WOOF. Are you done illustrating the first two books that are coming out in May?

I finished the first two books for Wednesday and Woof books in 2020 (book 1) and early 2021 (book 2).

Book three in the CATALINA INCOGNITO series is coming out in July. How many black and white illustrations did you do for these books?

These books have about 24-25 black and white illustrations many of them being spot illustrations.

 

Book four in the Catalina Incognito Series is coming out a few days before Thanksgiving. How often do you have to send in the illustrations to get approval to continue?

I’ve been fortunate; all of the Art Directors I’ve been fortunate to work with are really great. I don’t really have to do many rounds of revisions. With Catalina for example I sent them the first sketch they’d give me very clear revisions. I’d send it a second time for final approval and then move final art from there.

I was thinking how you might have had some time off during the holidays, but then I noticed you have The Museum of Lost Teeth by Elyssa Friedland coming out in February 23rd with Abrams. The cover is up on Amazon, does that mean you are almost done with the book?

The Museum of lost teeth was finished back in September of 2021, so now I’m just waiting like everyone else. I CAN NOT wait for everyone to see this one though, it was one of like my favorite to work on. I got to add so many neat details into the background.

Amazon lists you as Illustrator of Rica Baptista: Llamas, Iguanas, and My Very Best Friend. It is coming out in October. They show some pages with black and white illustrations, but no cover. Are you still working on that?

I think the coverage was JUST approved!!! I can’t wait for everyone to see it!

Last time we talked you said you wanted to write and illustrate a book. Were you able to find the time to work on accomplishing that goal?

No, unfortunately, I haven’t had time to work towards accomplishing that goal yet.

Four years ago you were working on an illustration for Highlights Magazine. How did that go? Have you done any other magazines?

It was/is great working with Highlights magazine. I haven’t worked with any other magazine outside of highlights though.

What do you think your biggest success over the last four years?

I think my biggest success is the amount of variety that I was able to work on. I was able to work on a nice range from board books to picture books to middle grade books and I never imagined getting to dive into all these fantastic stories and bring them to life.

Do you think your style has changed during the last four years?

Yes, I do believe my style has evolved a little bit in the last four years. I still love using bright colors, but I’ve been adding more texture to my artwork.

Have you experimented with any new materials since 2018?

I did I tried illustrating wooden sheet. I wouldn’t mind working on a book that way someday. But it would take a very long time. Which isn’t realistic with the current workload I’ve had.

Do you have anything we didn’t discuss in the pipeline?

At the moment, nothing. I’m taking a short break in the fall before jumping back in. But I haven’t taken any new projects on, as right now it’s very important to me to take a much-needed break, and perhaps finally get started on my own stories.

Do you have any words of wisdom to share with us?

Words of wisdom? First, I do want to point out that my situation is not a norm. Not everyone works on 10+ books in a year. And I don’t believe anyone ever SHOULD. This amount of work has been extremely overwhelming and has led me to burnout. So why did I do it?

I’ll be completely honest as to why I ended up here. The way we are paid at illustrators (even with the best agent in the world) it isn’t built in our favor. Normally, you get half of your advance at signing, and the last half when you turn in final art.

For example, say you sign a contract for a book in January 2021. You will get your first half then at signing. The final art of the book is due September 2021, you won’t get paid again until well after September.
Meaning either:
A) You must budget like crazy – though most likely that first advance wont last very long.
B) You have a second source of income or a working spouse that can take care of the gaps in cash flow.
C) You take on way too many projects and fill up all the gaps.

The problem with C is WHILE being grateful for all the opportunities, you put yourself at risk to burnout. Not all dates are set in stone, pandemics/world events can shift deadlines, which then can cause a very stressful domino effect of multiple deadlines missed or having to ask for extensions. And you have zero breathing room, zero time for rest and recover, zero time to do something as basic and human as getting sick and taking time off. Which here I’ll repeat again, you will BURNOUT.

I don’t exactly know the solution to leading a balanced life as a Full-time illustrator outside of perhaps earning more from your advances or finding a second source of income or passive income utilizing your art skills. I have no self-practiced wise words to pass on regarding that yet.

But I CAN say YOU are more important than any job in this world, even if it’s something you are passionate about, always take care of yourself first.

Gladys, thank you for taking the time to answer the interview questions and showing us your process. Please let me know about your future books and successes so I can share them with everyone.

You can visit Gladys using the following links:

WEBSITE: https://gladysjose.com/

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/gladysjoseillustrates/

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/gladysjosedraws/

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/gladysjosedraws?lang=en

AGENCY: https://catagencyinc.com/gladys-jose-1

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy